A longtime and dear friend invited me to her wedding and also asked if I would be the wedding photographer. At the time, my answer was yes, along with the caveat that “I don’t really do wedding photography like whats fashionable”. The fact that she had seen a lot of my previous work (and had some it framed and on her wall) and was OK with that should have been reassuring🙂

Quite simply, shooting a wedding is bloody hard and stressful work, and you don’t get paid nearly enough for the sheer amount of time you spend both on the day and processing the images. In this instance I was happy to do it, as the end result would be my gift to the happy couple, a framed print of their favourite image of the day.

This was not my first wedding shoot, but was the first ‘real’ one, capturing the whole event as the primary photographer. Was I nervous? Hell yes! Was I praying for good weather and no equipment failures? You betcha! Did I stay up late researching special techniques and reading the manuals? Of course!

Luckily it was a small intimate wedding, very joyous and happy and everyone was in an obliging frame of mind so we managed to get the shots of all the friends and family attending that the bride wanted on the day. Also she had planned to do all the more formal shots at the end of the day as they wanted the local scenery included as a reminder of the time and place, so there was time to have a bit of fun and experiment.

The bride and groom were delightful to deal with and the bride was AMAZING and incredibly cooperative with some of the poses I asked for, given it was the end of a long day and was pretty chilly out there in a wedding dress. By now I was in hiking shoes and a fleece jacket and wishing I had remembered my gloves!

Did I mention the dress was gorgeous !

Right now focus is on working my way through the several hundred shots taken on the day. Included are some of my favourite shots from our session at the end of the day – I have agonised a lot over the way I have post processed them as they are the enduring memory of the day and naturally want them to be the very best they can be.

I have also made an effort to improve my lightroom skills (as you may have seen in previous posts). Doing a good job on processing these wedding shots was a key driver for that, but the overall benefit to my capability will carry on into my career, so I have to thank the bride for providing the impetus for me to get my act together!

The bride wanted the background to be fairly obvious so I was walking a fine line with what aperture to use. There were some particular parts of the landscape she wanted referenced as part of the wedding photo record.

I think the shots are stunning! Her dress is gorgeous and the scenery speaks for itself. I have photographed two weddings a year apart, my sister’s and my niece’s weddings and it was so stressful. I truly understand how you felt. A part of me would love that career path and the other is shaking inside going “are you nuts!?!” Lol.